2007 CNNP “8891 Red Label” Raw Puerh Tea Cake (Yunnan Sourcing)

Gong-Go Rating:

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Results: Wonderfully smooth with dank notes of the forest and spicy campfires. I really enjoyed this tea & would get a whole cake if I had the room for storage. Definitely should be on your “MUST TRY” list.

Review:

It’s time for another “raw-pu’erh” review. With the previous tasting of Big Snow Mountain , I spoke about the difference between raw(sheng) and ripe(shou). This time I thought I’d touch a bit on the history of pu’erh in general.

Raw (sheng) pu’erh first and foremost must be produced from the large leaf Yunnan varietals. Second, it must be aged. Records of “pu tea” date back to the Eastern or Later Han Dynasty (25BC – 220 AD). Most authorities agree that it was around the 7th century that the method for creating pu’erh teas sprang from a need to keep tea during transport. From this developed the pressed cakes and bricks we still see today along with the traditional method for aging: storage under the proper conditions for years at a time.

Ripe (shou) pu’erh is a relatively new product. In 1971 a method was developed to “pile” (similar to composting) in order to simulate the natural aging process of raw pu’erh. This teas particular background is rather complicated and rather than botch it up, here is what Yunnan Sourcing has to say about its origin:

It’s been stored in Guangdong since 2007 in a dry-wet storage condition (wet stored but on the dry side of the wet storage spectrum). The raw material is from Nan Jian area of Yunnan which is technically part of Dali prefecture. I suspect the given the name “Da Li Cang Shan Xue Yin Yuan Cha” (Dali Town, Cang Mountain, Snow Mark Round Cake) and the font used that this was pressed for the CNNP company by the Nan Jian Tu Lin tea company. The material is fairly tippy, large leaf and obviously pure assamica. Not only that, but the raw material used is not from young plantation bushes as it’s quite burly and large in scale.

So far, I’ve found raw pu’erh much lighter than ripe (not that I’m an expert yet). After the last one, I was afraid they would all be very dry, but 2007 CNNP “8891 Red Label” was juicy with some sweet finishes that I really enjoyed. I also drank the hell out of it. Before trying this tea I thought I was going to be a Ripe Pu’erh guy, but not so! The woodsy dankness and spicy smokiness was light, refreshing, and highly recommended

Gong-Go Tasting

Dry Aroma:

⭐⭐⭐⭐🌟

All about the forest

Appearance:

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Nicely balanced with lots of tips and leaves

Very compressed & hard to break up evenly

Liquor:

⭐⭐⭐⭐🌟

The orange-gold colors & aromas of fall

Taste:

⭐⭐⭐⭐🌟

Danky, smoky, spicy with a sweeter apricot finish

Mouth Feel:

⭐⭐⭐⭐🌟

Smooth & succulent

Gong-Go Rating Infusion 1 :

⭐⭐⭐⭐🌟

Smokey, dank & luscious

Gong-Go Rating Infusion 2 – 3:

⭐⭐⭐⭐🌟

Some sweet apricot notes coming out in the finish

Gong-Go Rating Infusion 4 – 5:

⭐⭐⭐⭐🌟

More earthy but still very juicy

Gong-Go Rating Infusion 6-10:

⭐⭐⭐

Lots most of its complexity leaving flat earthy notes

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Lifetime tea lover and blogger sharing the joy of Gong-Go, a flash-fusion brew style for the modern active lifestyle. Writer and aspiring author, I also love growing heirloom tomatoes and turning my pictures into works of art.